The Hearing Learn to Sign

Karen Plumley, Feature Writer, Karen Plumley

Posted by
Karen Plumley
Feb 3, 2009

In a public library on January 5th, several young Windham, NH children sat in a circle listening with rapt attention to a tape recording of words spoken by an adult male voice. It was a quiz. The children in class were instructed to write down each word that they heard, or to make their best guesses. The room was so quiet you could hear the breathing sounds. The words were spoken one at a time, with long pauses in between, with no background noise. Yet these children with perfect hearing could not write a single answer down. Why? Because the words were played at the threshold level experienced by a person with partial deafness. Turning the volume up did not make the words any less muffled.

These 12-year-old students were homeschoolers that signed up for a one-hour American Sign Language course taught by Signs and Smiles owner Mary Buckley. Slightly befuddled with what was probably the hardest introductory test they had ever taken, the children were visibly affected by the poignancy of the listening activity.

Deafness can be an isolating condition, and it can be devastating to students who are trying to make sense of sound in a hearing world. But if the hearing population could only relate to the challenging issues facing children who are deaf or hard of hearing, the barriers to understanding would be torn down. I believe that the listening exercises provided by Mary Buckley accomplished this goal perfectly.

Buckley holds certificates in ASL and Deaf Studies, and she is a certified ASL/English Interpreter. She also believes wholeheartedly that children, hearing or otherwise, who learn sign language early will boost their communication skills. If it means that the hearing will understand the deaf and vice versa, then the first step has already been accomplished for these young students.

For further reading, take a look at my related articles here at Suite101.com:

Identifying Hearing Loss in Children

Learning Difficulties for the Hearing Impaired

Assistive Listening Devices in the Classroom

Working with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students

How to Work with a Sign Language Interpreter